There are so many styles of Japanese fried chicken. Can you name them all? We have the well-known Karaage (JFC), the home-cooked favorite Chicken Katsu, the Portugese-inspired Chicken Nanban, and so on. It’s impossible to pick a side, but everyone in my family is obsessed with Fried Chicken with Scallion Soy Sauce (ユーリンチー). Sure, it shares similar qualities as the other fried chicken: thin, ultra-crisp crust around a juicy interior, but the sauce is what sets it apart. The vinegary sauce cuts the grease and magically makes the fried chicken a light dish. You just have to try it once, and you’ll know I wasn’t joking about it!
Why You’ll Love This Fried Chicken with Scallion Soy Sauce:
Super crispy on the outside and juicy on the insideSimilar to Karaage, but with a delicious sauceThe savory tangy sauce is addicting on its own (you want to drizzle it over everything!)Easy to put together
Known as Yurinchi (油淋鶏, ユーリンチー), this dish is an adaptation of the famous Chinese fried chicken originated in Guangdong, a coastal province in South China. It is sometimes written as 日式油淋鶏 which translates to “Japanese version of oil-drenched chicken”. In Japan, you’ll most likely find this dish being served at Japanese-Chinese restaurants that serve chuka ryori. Since not many people are familiar with the Chinese name Yurinchi, some restaurants named it Chicken Karaage with Negi Sauce (唐揚げ香味ねぎソース) on their menus.
The Delicious Scallion Soy Sauce
The ingredients for the sauce are very simple:
Sesame oilScallion (I use the white bottom part of Tokyo negi also known as long green onion)Rice vinegarSakeSugarSoy SauceOptional—ginger, garlic, or dried red chili pepper. I make variations of this sauce by changing up the opt-ins. You can use all three ingredients, or just one like I did today for this recipe.
This amazing sauce doesn’t last long in our house at all. You’ll notice the amount in my recipe is slightly more than you need for two chicken thighs, but we enjoy drizzling the extra sauce over the chicken, the rice, and other dishes such as:
GyozaChilled tofuScallion pancakesRoasted/steamed/blanched veggiesGrilled pork
How to Make Fried Chicken with Scallion Soy Sauce
Ingredients You’ll Need
Chicken: I always use boneless, skin-on thighs, but you can make it with skinless thighs, or butterflied chicken breast. Japanese fried chicken is typically made with skin-on chicken as the skin gives extra flavors and it gets crispy when deep-friedSeasonings (soy sauce, sake, salt, and pepper)Potato starch or cornstarchOil for deep-fryingScallion soy sauce (the white bottom part of the Tokyo negi or scallions, sesame oil, dried red chili, sake, rice vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce)
Overview: Cooking Steps
Make the scallion soy sauce: chop scallions and cook it with seasonings.Prepare the chicken by marinating with the seasoning.Coat the chicken with potato starch.Deep-fry the chicken until golden.Cut the cutlets into smaller pieces and serve with scallion soy sauce.
5 Helpful Cooking Tips
Prick the chicken skin using a fork or the tip of a knife. This helps the marinade reach the meat under the skin more easily.Invest in an instant-read thermometer (and kitchen scale). You can easily avoid mistakes and failure by having these two items in the kitchen. Shake off any excess potato starch when you coat the chicken. Any extra starch will separate from the chicken and turn into crumbs as soon as you add it to the oil. So it’s best to shake it off before adding the chicken to the oil.Deep-fry the chicken skin-side down. When I tried deep-frying the chicken with the skin-side up, the skin separated from the meat. From my experience, the chicken looks better when it’s deep-fried skin-side down first.After deep-frying, the remaining heat will cook the chicken even more. Therefore, you don’t have to fully cook the chicken in the oil; or else, the chicken will become dry. Make sure the internal temperature of the chicken is at least 165ºF (74ºC).
Frequent Asked Questions
Can we bake the chicken instead of deep-frying?
Since it’s not a wet batter/breading, you can lightly brush the chicken with oil and bake in the oven. Adjust the oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Add chicken and cook for 30 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until crisp and golden brown, 15 to 30 minutes longer, flipping a few more times towards the end.
Do we have to use potato starch or cornstarch?
In Japan, we use potato starch for karaage (or a mixture of both potato starch and wheat flour). If you can’t find potato starch, you can use cornstarch as it’s more common in the U.S. I haven’t tried other starches, so I can’t give any recommendations.
How do you dispose the used oil?
We bring the used cooking oil to the local recycling center where they collect cooking oil. So that’s one thing you can check in your area. If the local garbage company recommends to throw away, then here are some options:
Use this Japanese oil waste cooking oil powder that can solidify the oil. You can read how to use it in my How to Deep-Fry post. Pour the cooled, used oil in a jar (keep your big pasta sauce jar!) and dispose.
I’m worried about deep-frying. Do you have a tip?
I am comfortable with deep-frying but this is after years of cooking and deep-frying. I believe you will learn fast through practicing and making many mistakes, and you will get better at it. I have the deep-frying guide page where I share some tips. Hope it’s helpful.
What deep-frying pot do you use?
I’ve gone through a couple of pots over the years and I have liked two kinds so far.
Staub Cast Iron 2.75-qt Round Cocotte — I chose this matte black color so I don’t mind if it gets dirty. It has a perfect size for deep-frying cutlets (such as chicken katsu or tonkatsu) and the shallow depth means I don’t need to use a lot of oil to fill it up.Summit Iron Beijing Wok Stir Fry — This wok is a recent addition to my kitchen and I love using it for stir-frying and deep-frying! Compared to the Staub Cocotte I mentioned above, the oil heats up really fast due to the thin carbon steel pan. The size is similar to the Staub, so I like this for the same reason.
Kitchen Tools from MTC Kitchen
I’ve partnered with MTC Kitchen to introduce quality kitchen tools for your everyday Japanese cooking. You will get 10% off with a coupon code JOC10 for your purchase. In this post, I’ve used:
Summit Iron Beijing Wok Stir Fry
What to Serve with This Fried Chicken Recipe
Spicy Japanese Pickled CucumbersAsparagus with Miso Dressing (Karashi Sumisoae)Chrysanthemum Greens and Tofu Salad (Shungiku Shiraae)Green Bean Gomaae (Sesame Dressing)
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